Details
UK - The cream of the UK's design fraternity received their coveted accolades at this year's Design Week Awards, on a set that incorporated the latest in plasma screen technology in the guise of two 84" NeoDigm plasma screens. Over 700 guests converged at The Royal Courts of Justice in central London to celebrate all that is contemporary in the design world. Rory Bremner led the field of hosts on the evening as 23 highly prized Design Awards were given out. In keeping with the cutting-edge designs of the awards winners, set designers Up-Stage incorporated the pair of 84" plasma screens to great effect within the stage set for the evening.

Plasmascreen Co sponsored the best TV / Film and Video Graphics Award, reaffirming their support of companies who push back the bounda

Details
Europe - Singer-songwriter and ex-Marillion front man Fish and his band will be using backline wireless equipment supplied by advanced radio frequency products manufacturer Trantec Systems on his current European Tour. Following the completion of the new album 'Field of Crows', the demanding 46-date tour which began in February and runs into April sees Fish on the road with a five-piece band which includes ex-Big Country guitarist Bruce Watson.

Each member of the band will be using Trantec's S4000 IEM, a UHF stereo in-ear monitoring system, which comprises a transmitter and two beltpack receivers - an ideal configuration for the small to medium sized venues on the tour schedule. The DC powered transmitter features a menu-driven LCD control panel, which can display both audio channels simultaneously or provide an average of both. Other displays include operating frequency, user n

Details
USA - Twentieth Century Fox's epic adventure I, Robot, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Will Smith, used 42 Vari*Lite VL3000 Spot luminaires to create special effects, pushing the functionality of automated lighting in film-making into uncharted territory. Taking advantage of the fixtures' 1200W arc source lamp, Duggan generated special effects that enhance the film's action scenes and saved time and labour during filming. With assistance from gaffer Owen Taylor and automated lighting operator Tracey Ploss of Q1 Production Technologies, Duggan used the VL3000 Spot luminaires to create illusions of speed and movement in sequences ranging from car chases to building destruction.

Lisa Ploss of Q1 Production Technologies was able to make available 12 VL3000 Spot luminaires for Taylor and Duggan to show them the versatility of the strobe on the fixtures. She also made arra

featured content

Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

Details
The Netherlands - Attending Cebit 2004, the biggest computer and telecom show in Europe, you cannot overlook the impressive Telekom stand in Hall 26. The stand covers almost the entire hall and has a very open and high-tech feeling. Q-Bus Mediatektur GmbH from Berlin made the concept and technically designed the complete stand. All the audiovisual and ShowControl equipment was delivered and installed by Garhrens & Battermann from Berlin. The ShowControl design and programming was done by Ground Zero.

Franziskus Scharpff and Kay Van Praagh of Ground Zero Berlin designed and pre programmed the system. Ground Zero's Rutger van Dijk, Koos Maris, Franziskus Scharpff, Sierk Janszen and Jörg Müller did the entire on site programming and operating. The Medialon Manager was controlled directly by cuelist on Excel sheets through a layer of ODBC. The Tonline booth consisted of three indi

Details
Australia / UK - Australian lighting control manufacturer, LSC Lighting Systems, has appointed Lighting Logic as UK distributor for its full range of innovative products. Kent-based Lighting Logic was recently formed by sales and installation industry stalwarts Mick Cocker and Matt Miles, both of whom are already familiar with the LSC brand, having specified it on many previous projects.

Lighting Logic will be responsible for the importation, distribution network and technical support for LSC's lighting control desks, DMX network products and the complete range of portable and installation dimming systems.

With the first stocks now in place, Lighting Logic's energies are focussing on expanding the dealer network. Part of the agreement with LSC includes the establishment of a training centre, primarily to hold regular advanced training sessions on their maXim and MINIM control

Details
UK - VLPS Lighting Services has announced a further addition to its expanding sales team with the arrival of Mark de Gruyter. Taking on the role of regional sales manager he will be joining Simon Roose, Colin Brooker and Philip Norfolk, and will be managing the Southern European, Middle East and African territories.

Roose, European sales manager, commented: "With such incredible growth in the sales of Vari*Lite products in Europe, I am really pleased that Mark has joined the sales team. With his industry and territory experience he is a very valued addition to the VLPS team."

De Gruyter commented: "I am excited about the prospect of being involved with the dedicated group of professionals at VLPS and representing a company and array of products including the full Vari*Lite automated luminaire range. In addition, the timing could not be better with the imminent r

Details
UK - Yamaha launched the PM5000 as its ultimate analogue live desk. "This may be one of Yamaha's last consoles of this type, so we really wanted to get it right, particularly with regard to sound quality," said Terry Halton of Yamaha R&D. "The development of this desk has been about thinking and applying all the things we've learned from talking with the engineers who use our desks in the live environment. Reliability is a big issue and we've retained that focus as a priority - which is why we apply so much time to in house testing."

Ray Furze, one of the first sound engineers to test the desk at a live show, said: "I used the board on a one-off show with The Beautiful South and was sold on it straight away. I liked the new pre-amps and my first impression was that the EQ has a feel that reminded me of Neve EQ with a very polished top end and warm lows.

Details
UK - Projected Image Digital supplied one of its new D-TEK Industries D-Mix Pro video mixing products to lighting rental house Lite Alternative. This went straight out on tour - the first for the product - with LD Rob Sinclair on The Hollies, allowing him to integrate both video and lighting medias to run off his Avolites Pearl lighting console.

The Hollies, one of the most successful 'UK invasion' bands of the 1960s, are still regularly touring the theatre circuit. Two members of the original line-up are in the band, and unlike many other still-active acts of the era, they always carry their own full production, including sound and visuals.

For 2004, the Hollies management wanted a new look for the show. After discussions with Sinclair, all decided video was the way to go. However, a degree of lateral thinking was required by both Sinclair and lighting suppliers Lite Alternat

Details
UK - Leading UK pro audio distributor Autograph Sales has been asked to exhibit at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow at the end of March. The Sponsors' Tradeshow is by invitation only and the London-based company will be one of a select few to participate.

The exhibition is a first, and takes place in the RSMAD's new Athenaeum Theatre. It is being held in conjunction with the Graduate Exhibition, showing students' displays from the Technical and Production Arts Course and visitors will come from Glasgow's pro audio community.

Autograph Sales' inclusion in the show reinforces its support and association with the RSAMD. Equipment has been donated for the students' various projects that is essential to their understanding of the latest technology available in the field. Dave Ripley, Academy production manager, is delighted that Autograph Sales has decided t

Details
USA - Demonstrations of Production Resource Group's new Mbox image server technology will be held at the company's North Bergen, New Jersey, operations facility 7-9 April, 2004. A free shuttle service will be provided between the Jacob Javits Convention Center and the demonstration site on those dates. Interested participants are asked to pre-register for the demonstrations with Anne Johnston, PRG's vice-president of Image Systems.

With Mbox, users can control all of the video, projection, and lighting elements in an entertainment production through a single lighting console. Mbox enables users to perform rapid, onsite editing of images without the need for specialized software. The system also offers many special effects, including image layering, resizing, rotations, colourization, and masking with over 700 gobo masks. Users can store and call up a practically unlimited number

Details
Australia - StageAccess.com, the entertainment information resource, gave the Australian market an insight into the potential available to them at the beginning of this year. Developments manager Helen Baker spent two months demonstrating the site; including stints backstage at Robbie Williams' concerts, awareness promotion at Big Day Out and presentations at Australian Music Week.

Baker, who is returning to her native Australia in mid-March, will continue to support and help increase the Australasian and Asian community membership on the site. She told us: "We had an amazing reception to the concept wherever we went. There has been a huge amount of interest in the Teams Tool function, with people such as Garry and Christo Van Egmond, AC/DC's promoters, expressing a desire to investigate the application further.

"There's also a big demand within the Australian commu

Details
UK - Marquee Audio has installed a new sound system into one of The Breakfast Group's premier venues, Grand Central in London's Shoreditch. Marquee has become the Group's preferred contractors of late, last year fitting out Salvador & Amanda in Covent Garden and also augmenting the system at The Social, in London's West End.

Back in Shoreditch, as the 260-capacity venue - originally opened three years ago - settled into its operating pattern, the inadequacies of the sound system became evident. The Group give high priority to music quality in their venues, and its head of marketing, Brenhan Magee, said that the plan was to coincide the new system upgrade with an acoustic treatment of the room, which saw the installation of a series of acoustic discs lowering the ceiling height.

"Marquee are a highly professional company and the combination of their expertise and the acous

Details
Belgium - In downtown Brussels, designer Marc Largent has temporarily turned the top eight floors of an office tower into a spectacular, new-product announcement, visible throughout the entire city. The concept was born last October, when Marc visited LDI and saw the prototype ColourPix V-LED system on the TMB booth. Largent immediately foresaw the unlimited possibilities - somewhere between lighting and video - of this brand new technology. Since then he has been anxiously awaiting the release of the finished product.

The massive LED array, showing custom video content created by Largent's company, Magic Monkey, is now being used to announce the launch of Toyota's hybrid-car, Prius, in Europe. The system runs nightly from 7pm to 7am CET until 12 April, and can be seen via the Internet on a web-cam at Toyota's official webpage (address below).

Belgian production rental compan

Details
UK - Citronic will introduce a number of new mixer products at the Frankfurt ProLight&Sound exhibition (31 March - 3 April 2004). The SM-FX500 Ultima is a 4-channel 19" rack mixer with a built-in DSP. Its compact 5U design includes features normally found in higher-priced units. Designed with both small installations and mobile DJs in mind, it has three microphone inputs, two of which are controlled with the dedicated mic channel and one assigned to the fourth channel as a switchable option. Mics 1 and 2 share a 3-band EQ and mic override system. Each of the four music channels has an individual gain control and 3-band EQ offering +10dB of Boost and -30dB of Kill. Each channel is also easily assignable to the crossfader A or B. The unit has a built in digital signal processor offering eight effects which are assignable to each music channel, microphone channel, master or cros

Details
UK - Crest Audio has introduced the CD and CM Series power amplifiers, all in 2U packages. The CD Series combines a linear power supply with Class D output stage for improved handling of heavy-duty cycles without compromising sonic integrity. Furthermore, versatile power points, multiple input options and cooling via back-to-front, variable speed DC fans make the CD suitable for installations.

The CD range includes the CD-1500, CD-2000 and CD-3000, producing 900W, 1200W and 1800W respectively into 2 ohms stereo mode. Meanwhile, the four-channel CM 2204 and eight-channel CM 2208 are both designed to operate at 220W RMS regardless of impedance selected. Another feature of the CM Series is a circuit which lowers the line current required for any given output by as much as 50%. Other plusses are inputs and outputs featuring Phoenix connectors, with all level controls situated at the

Details
UK - The Rainbow range of colour changers - now more than 15 years old - is still going strong, reports London-based White Light Sales, the exclusive UK distributor for the Rainbow range. From the products' first London appearance in Andy Philips' lighting design for Madam Butterfly in 1989, followed quickly by Miss Saigon - a show on which 41 Rainbow scrollers gave more than a decade's worth of reliable service - the Rainbow scroller has become the colour changer of choice for many lighting designers, and a standard on many shows in London, and on tour around the world.

Now through White Light Sales, regular Rainbow users are expanding their stocks to include the latest products, while smaller theatres are discovering the advantages that Rainbow scrollers can offer to visiting lighting designers. At the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the RSC's P

Details
The Netherlands - Sander Kleinenberg's tour to promote his latest album, Everybody, made a stop in the DJ's native country to play to a select crowd of 1,500 people. Having hosted big names like Sasha and Remy on previous nights, the tour maintained its star studded status with a five-hour set by Washington DC-based DJs, Deep Dish, in one room and Kleinenberg in another at the Paard venue in The Hague.

Both areas had Martin Audio sound systems and Allen & Heath Xone mixers. Deep Dish opted for a Xone:62, whilst Sander Kleinenberg installed his own, personal Xone:92, as has become customary for his club performances. Sander has been a big supporter of the new mixer, which he helped to launch last December with a major set in Cargo, London.

Deep Dish and Sander Kleinenberg had plenty to celebrate, as both received awards at the recent DanceStar event in Miami; Kleinenberg

Details
UK - After almost 14 years, David Wilmore has left his job as head of the technical division at the Harrogate International Centre to concentrate full-time on his theatresearch theatre restoration practice. The theatresearch work has been expanding over the last few years working on projects that include the Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond (1788) and the Gaiety Theatre & Opera House on the Isle of Man (1900) and Wilmore felt that this was the right time to explore and develop other projects.

theatresearch has recently been involved with Hayles & Howe (specialist ornamental plasters) with the dismantling of the Royal Opera House in Scarborough. Prior to demolition the auditorium was dismantled and key elements carefully stored for future reconstruction in the same way that the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith and the Dunfermline Opera House were. It is hoped that the theatre will one

Details
UK - Diana Ross has completed her triumphant tour of sell-out concerts in the UK and Ireland. Major Tom provided sound reinforcement, with front-of-house engineer Chris Marsh having to specify some inventive configurations of his ElectroVoice X-Line system to enable some venues to accommodate the show's 360º design.

The big London date for Ross was Wembley Arena, where the in-the-round set resulted in some big changes for the sound engineers. Monitor engineer Rory Madden was situated in the centre of the arena floor, alongside members of the 12-piece band and the circular stage. Marsh had to set up his Midas XL4 console where one would normally expect to find the stage.

"That was the biggest compromise," says Marsh. "The traditional front-of-house position is about five metres away from where the round stage is now. So I am where the stage usually is, and off t

Details
UK - Large format projection specialists E//T//C UK has moved to new bigger, better, brighter premises in Essex. The move is part of the company's general expansion, which also sees the appointment of Phil Pieridis as E//T//C's new in-house technician.

The newly constructed building offers three times the amount of warehouse and office space as the company's previous base in Hounslow. E//T//C had the advantage of being able to custom design the premises internally at the build stage to suite it's specific usage, which includes a large projection prep area and a studio space for the creation and editing of artwork. The Barking location is also more conveniently connected for public and road transport into central London and around the country. New contact derails are: E//T//C UK, Unit 4A, Barking Business Centre, Thames Road, Barking. Essex. IG11 0JP.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

Details
UK - During the past year, Lincoln's Drill Hall has been undergoing a £2.5m refurbishment, destined to make it the city's premier multi-use performing arts space. Managing the process on behalf of the venue's trustees, The City of Lincoln Council tasked Marquee Audio with installing a top-grade sound system, after three companies had initially been asked to tender.

The Hall's technical manager Gary Malam said that the decision to use Marquee gave him complete confidence, since he had worked closely with the company's MD Spencer Brooks, when the former was supervising the technology at the Reading Hexagon. Furthermore, Rob Whittaker - who recently joined the Shepperton installers - was known to the venue, and he undertook this as his first contract for his new employers. "I was delighted when I arrived to discover that a Turbosound system had been recommended," said Ma

Page 1633 of 3465

Latest Issue. . .